Why will the Bears be good this year?

Brian Urlacher is back. Urlacher hasn’t been THAT great the last few years (and of course, he was injured all of last year). And there will still be times when I’ll think he’s overrated. But he brings a soul to the Chicago defense. He knows what he’s doing out there and in tandem with Lance Briggs, the Chicago LB group can play at a high level. His return is big.

Chris Harris is back at safety. The Bears lost Harris to Carolina a few years ago but have decided to bring him back – mostly because the guy is a quality safety. The secondary is a bit suspect overall, but bringing Harris back was smart and he will help this team.

Unfortunately for the rest of the NFC North, I think Mike Martz will settle in well. For the last few years, there has been some controversy in Chicago over who calls the defensive plays. Most recently, Lovie Smith himself has done this. But whenever a head coach is so involved in one aspect of the game like Lovie is with the defense, it necessarily has to detract from his overall ability to contribute to the other aspect of the game (in this case, the offense). To get around this, some teams just have their head coaches be head coaches and leave offensive/defensive playcalling to the respective coordinators. Other teams (like the Packers and Mike McCarthy) decide to hire a strong personality (often a former head coach) who can just handle that whole other aspect of the game (like Capers does with the Pack’s defense). Mike Martz will handle the offense and now Lovie can just focus on the defense. This will work well in Chicago. Also, remember, these two have coached together (with success) earlier in the decade for the Rams.

The Martz offensive system will also work well because Martz has some quality personnel to carry out his elaborate offensive game plans. I know many who will disagree with this, but I think what Jay Cutler actually needs is a coach with a huge ego who can run interference with Cutler getting carried away with himself. Think Holmgren/Favre. I hate to say this, but with two very good RBs, some fast and quick WRs and a couple quality TEs, and a creative offensive system, this offense could take off this year.

Matt Forte will be back. Last year, Forte dealt with some nagging injuries and a porous O-Line. While the line does remain a big question mark for this team, Forte was so dangerous his rookie year it’s hard to imagine that he’d repeat his performance from last year and not the performance from his rookie year now that he’s healthy again. He’s a really good player.

Chester Taylor will be there in case Forte isn’t that good – or, as a nice complement to Forte if he is good. Taylor is a very good RB – MN was unwise to let him slip away this past offseason and especially unwise to let him go to a division rival. Taylor seems to me to be a scary fit for a Mike Martz style offense.

WR Devin Aromashodu is good. This guy came out of nowhere last year and dominated in his last 4 games. (4 TDs, 280 or so yards receiving). Cutler likes throwing to him. He will be a big key to this offense because if he can stretch the field and make big plays, it will open things up for quick passes underneath to Hester and Johnny Knox. If these WRs get things rolling, Chicago could be really difficult to stop.

Chicago has to be good or everyone gets fired. There is a lot of pressure right now on this Bears team. If they suck this year, everyone (including the GM) will get canned. There won’t be give-up at least from the coaching staff. Couple this with the fact that the Bears are not expected to be that good and it makes for a team that will have plenty of incentive to play well (I believe Lovie is well-liked by the players) and a team that doesn’t have the weight of expectations outside the locker room.

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11 Responses to “Why will the Bears be good this year?”

Bears good? No, never, absolutely not, no chance, not in my life time! The Bears are vile disgusting creautres of no value what so ever.

With that said, Clifton better be at his best when they paly the Packers. I fear facing Peppers twice a year. Let’s be totally honest. The Packer Oline is depending on two oft injured old men at the tackles. Backups a rookie and a second year man are high risk.

Chris Harris is already hurt. He has missed all week of camp with a bad back. Their secondary won’t be much better then last year and last year it was way too porous.

I think the Achilles heal for the Bears will be their offensive line. Cutler throws 20+ picks again because he is running scared all season and their running game will be anemic. Kreutz is coming off surgery and quite frankly he isn’t the player he used to be anyways. Williams will be full time at LT but was less then dominant last year after replacing Pace. I think he ends up being adequate as he has the talent but if he struggles against a plethora of good DE’s this season they are in BIG trouble. Their guards spots are up in the air. They just don’t have two starter quality guards. I guess they plan to move Garza to LG this year. He is OLD and was barely adequate last year at RG. The other three guards on the roster are fighting for the RG spot and from what I hear on Chicago sports radio none of them are any good. They signed and put Omiyale at RT. This is a guy who was cut by Atlanta and Carolina didn’t bother resigning after two years playing guard for them. Tice thinks he can be a better RT then guard. If he doesn’t work out they have nothing behind him.

I agree with DaveK…Cutler is a huge head case and when he starts getting hit cause his o-line stinks he will self destruct and throw massive picks thinking he has to do it all himself. Then he will start whining and showing his true colors as a natural born loser. Hate Cutler and love that the Bears got him!

I pray you are incorrect about the ego’d coach reining him in. I live in Chi and cannot stand having to listen to Bear fans when they win a few (they’re almost as bad as viking fans)

As far as the Bears, I am not sold that Martz will be what Cutler needs. I am not sure what Cutler needs to be honest, but after watching him last year, a swift kick in the rear and an attitude adjustment might be a starting point.